Schlaglicht Nr. 21/08 Aktuelles aus israelischen Tageszeitungen 25. November – 06. Dezember 2008

1. Hausräumung in Hebron But when the day comes and thousands of soldiers and policemen arrive to do just that, we must keep Am 4. Dezember räumten Kräfte der israelischen in mind that nothing major is happening. Surely, Armee und Polizei ein Haus in der Stadt Hebron, in Defense Minister and fellow politicians dem sich radikale Siedler verschanzt hatten. In will talk about the victory of democracy. They will einem Disput um das Gebäude – das von den boast about how the rule of law has prevailed yet Siedlern als „Friedenshaus“ bezeichnet wird – again. […] zwischen dem palästinensischen Besitzer und That is why we will remind them and ourselves that Siedlern, die behaupten es legal erworben zu the occupation is only becoming more permanent. haben, hatten Staat und Oberster Gerichtshof die For every settler house that is demolished, dozens Räumung beschlossen. more are being built. We must remember that the In Erwartung der Evakuierung waren hunderte, Palestinians of Hebron will still be deprived of basic hauptsächlich jugendliche Radikale in das Haus und human rights, because they were born in a city die Umgebung geströmt, um die Räumung zu where the lives of settlers are worth more than verhindern. Kurz nachdem Verteidigungsminister theirs. Barak sich mit Vertretern der Siedler getroffen hatte, Finally, we must remember that as Israelis, we have wurde das Haus jedoch früher als erwartet innerhalb a long struggle ahead of us, one that involves weniger Stunden geräumt und versiegelt. Junge hundreds of ‘houses of peace.’ We cannot call Siedler randalierten daraufhin in der Umgebung, ourselves a society that upholds the values of griffen Palästinenser an und beschädigten deren human rights and democracy until we deal with Eigentum. Die Armee erklärte Teile des südlichen these bigger issues, instead of focusing on just one Westjordanlandes zum geschlossenen Militärgebiet. house.” In Hebron liegt eine der wichtigsten heiligen Stätten Michael Manekin, JPO 03.12.08 des Judentums, die Höhle der Patriarchen. In der Stadt leben einige hundert jüdische Siedler der Standing up to Jewish terrorism radikal sten Strömung unter hunderttausenden Pa- “For a long time now, settlers in Hebron and other lästinensern. areas of Judea and Samaria (and East Jerusalem) have engaged in unruly behavior whose only goal is It’s only one house to violently threaten the Palestinians while “It is […] important to remind ourselves that if the undermining Israel`s sovereignty. By any official settlers are evicted […], Hebron will continue to be a standard recognized worldwide, this is terrorism that place that embodies the worst of Israel's occupation sows fear and disrupts the proper management of a policies. Hebron will still be a place where state. […] Palestinians are prevented legally from walking on Under the hypocritical umbrella of ‘national unity’ their own roads, a city with sections that have and the self-righteous threat of ‘a rift in the nation,’ become virtual ghost towns as a consequence of the rampaging has become the norm, a daily Israeli policies. […] routine. The settlers utter profanities, spit, beat, sow None of this is to say that eviction of the settlers ruin and destruction, while the army turns a blind from the ‘House of Peace’ is unimportant. […] We eye in the best-case scenario and takes part in the must pressure our government to enforce the law worst. and evacuate these illegal settlers. The House of Contention is therefore the 1 culmination of a dangerous progression of events, people who will never get it, yet normal rightists and the widespread public protest that should have know how to distinguish between appropriate, well- arisen among the sane portion of society after these supported positions and a violent and crazed style events has not materialized because the heart of adopted by 16-year-olds. Indeed, for every blow that Israeli society has been desensitized for quite some a soldier sustains, the religious Zionist camp and its time. […] love for the Land of Israel sustain two blows.“ This week, Israel has reached the point of no return, Uri Orbach, JED 06.12.08 which will also determine who controls the state: the justice system and a government elected by Is the worst yet to come? democratic means, or Jewish terrorism.” “It is not over yet. The disputed house in Hebron HAA 04.12.08 was indeed evacuated, yet the struggle is far from being over. The dangerous and volatile part is still Playing with fire ahead of us. Hundreds of members of the radical “Though no one was gravely wounded, the violent settler camp have spread around the hills in Judea evacuation of Beit Hashalom, and the events and Samaria and from there they are infiltrating leading up to it, again exposed the depth of the Palestinian communities and roads in order to exact chasm that divides our society. […] what they euphemistically refer to as a ‘price tag.’ Many of those responsible for the Hebron violence, The meaning of this term in less euphemistic terms both yesterday and in recent weeks, are out-of- is pogroms against the Palestinians, and possibly control youths who gravitated to this trouble-spot harassment of Israeli security forces, at as many encouraged by their spiritual authorities and political sites as possible, with the declared aim of creating mentors. […] major conflagration in Judea and Samaria. There’s an irreconcilable disconnect between those This mayhem is meant to create the kind of trauma who would engage in or rationalize settler violence in Israeli public opinion that would prevent further and mainstream Israel; between those who have evacuations in the future. […] We should assume disengaged from our - admittedly imperfect - Zionist that the anger and frustration caused by the enterprise, its army and polity, and the majority who evacuation among the settlers, and particularly want the rule of law upheld even when, to borrow among radical rightists and the ‘hilltop youths,’ will from Dickens, ‘the law is an ass.’ […] prompt hundreds of them to get out there. Some of Let's not, meanwhile, lose sight of two other them already vowed to return to the building that fundamentals. First, the vast majority of Israelis was the focal point of the confrontation. […] living in Judea and Samaria are law-abiding patriots. These are difficult days for the Israeli government, Secondly, in any and all circumstances, Jews must for security forces, and also for the established be guaranteed access to the Cave of the Patriarchs. leaderships of the settlers in Judea and Samaria. If The contemptible behavior of settler radicals does they are unable, through cooperation, to contain the not negate this right. For long before Christianity and riots and curb them, not only will Israeli democracy Islam came on the scene, Hebron was already a be undermined; the whole State of Israel could end cornerstone of Jewish civilization.” up facing chaos and possibly, heaven forbid, a civil JPO 04.12.08 war.” Ron Ben-Yishai, JED 05.12.08 Who is scared of Daniela Weiss? “Religious rightists are uncomfortable about blatantly 2. Primaries der Arbeitspartei speaking out against reckless settlers, because then people will think that we are leftist too, and at this In Vorbereitung auf die Knessetwahlen im Februar difficult time it is not nice to join the leftist media hat die Arbeitspartei Primaries abgehalten, um ihre wave. So once the seasonal attack on the settlers Kandidatenliste zusammenzustellen. Der Partei- starts, everyone enters the bunker. vorsitzende Ehud Barak erhielt den reservierten This is a mistake, of course. One can be in favor of ersten Platz, auf den zweiten und dritten Platz the right of Jews to hold on to the House of Peace in wurden Sozialminister Isaac Herzog und der Hebron, yet at the same time be outraged by the Knessetabgeordnete Ophir Pines-Paz gewählt. Da thuggish behavior of the youths there. One can see der Arbeitspartei in Umfragen schlechte Ergebnisse the injustice inherent in the court ruling, yet continue vorausgesagt werden, könnte es sein, dass the fight without going crazy. […] There are some Parteiveteranen wie Yuli Tamir oder Amir Peretz, die 2 weiter hinten auf der Liste stehen, um ein All the energies were directed to this day. Knessetmandat bangen müssen. Überschattet Candidates traveled all across the country, and the wurden die Primaries indes von einem technischen intention was to wake up in the morning singing a Fehler: Die Wahlen, die erstmals per Touchscreen new tune. However, this tune was cut short in the stattfinden sollten, mussten nach wenigen Stunden middle of the day, making place for curses, fury, and abgebrochen werden, da aus allen Wahllokalen von anger in the face of a collapsing computer systems. Funktionsfehlern berichtet wurde. Die Primaries We can feel pity for members of the Labor party wurden dann zwei Tage später – diesmal per because this time – and this time only – it apparently traditionellem Wahlzettel – wiederholt. Dennoch war wasn’t their fault.” die Wahlbeteiligung mit 50% von 60,000 Attila Somfalvi, JED 03.12.08 zugelassenen Wählern höher als zunächst erwartet. Sie hat noch eine Chance verdient Change Labor’s path „Die Arbeitspartei und Barak haben sich einen Teil “The Labor primary is taking place in the shadow of dieser [schlechten] Behandlung [durch die Medien] polls predicting that the party will be only the fourth in allen Ehren verdient, und sie können sich nur or fifth largest party in the 18th . […] selbst Vorwürfe machen. [...] It will thus become either a minor coalition partner or Man kann sich der Versuchung, auf die Arbeitspartei a medium-to-small opposition party. einzuschlagen, nur schwer entziehen. [...] Aber jetzt Concerns about the Labor Party go beyond party ist es an der Zeit, damit aufzuhören. Sie hat es nicht hacks' fears for their seats in the Knesset and verdient, derart geprügelt zu werden. Die cabinet. In light of the right's meteoric rise, it is Arbeitspartei und ihr Programm sind noch immer doubly important that there be a strong, stable von Bedeutung für die israelische Gesellschaft. [...] political bloc that supports solving the unending Es stimmt schon, dass Ehud Barak Antagonismus conflict between Israel and its neighbors. In light of erweckt, aber er ist immer noch der Mann, der the severe economic crisis, there is a need for a zwischen uns und einer Großinvasion Gazas steht, party that will look out for the weaker segments of die eine lange Reihe von Anschlägen mit sich society and work to reduce the gap between rich bringen und die Zahl der Raketen und Katjuschas and poor. […] stark erhöhen würde. Morgen finden Primaries in Today, those Labor members who seek their party's der Partei statt. Wenn sie eine frische Liste ergeben welfare and believe that it has not yet finished its sollten, mit all den guten Leuten, die kandidieren, role must steer clear of ‘deals’ and cheap hacks. […] dann könnte man die Arbeitspartei wirklich noch als They must choose candidates whose characters, eine legitime und wichtige sozialdemokratische activities and messages offer real change, and Partei betrachten, nicht als geschlagene und above all, a return to the worldview and values of blutende Institution. Gebt ihr noch eine Chance. Und the peace camp and social justice. And they must damit auch uns.“ choose people who will be willing to work tirelessly Yael Paz-Melamed, MAA 01.12.08 for this even from the opposition benches, not only from a ministerial chair.” A tale of two funerals HAA 02.12.08 “[T]oday we can direct the […] question to the Labor party: Well, you can't even run your own primaries, God has no mercy on Labor so how will you be running the country? “There is no question about it: It is apparently The primaries fiasco Tuesday is merely one verse or impossible to sink any lower. This is the last thing chapter in Labor's book of clumsiness and bad luck. the Labor party needed: Flawed primary elections In the past year, more than ever, bad luck has been that turn into a joke and end even before they haunting the party that did so much ‘for the country.’ started, breaking a Guinness record in terms of Some will argue that the party and its leaders are ridicule and dismalness. […] cursed and that this curse must be lifted. How? Any bad thing that could have happened to the party People should sit down, think, and create a party happened to it. After months of terrible polls, harsh that is whole new, with the exception of its old name: criticisms, and dreadful prophecies, it isn’t difficult to Ideology that is adapted to the 21st Century, and understand the reason for the gloom that took hold worthy leaders. of Labor’s members upon the collapse of the This is a long and painful process, and it cannot be primaries. applied ahead of the upcoming elections on 3 February 10th, yet this is precisely the problem of Al-Qaeda too has shifted from sporadic terror to Labor and of politics and politicians in the State of military terror, and its operations are more complex Israel as a whole: They are only thinking about the and integrate more elements. […] upcoming elections. Yet right now it is not them who India constitutes a broad testing ground for terror are in trouble; it's us.” forces aiming to take over a large city while using Eitan Haber, JED 04.12.08 military terrorism. […] Therefore, the war on terror’s doctrine must change. The party defeated itself […] Today, we see the emergence of a dark, new, “The computerized voting system that crashed and different army, with new branches that include yesterday morning immediately after being activated all the components of a military, yet still utilize the was supposed to have prevented the embarrassing terror doctrine. […] They tie the hands of the ritual that is an ever-present part of every primary: responding force, which is the only side subjected to accusations of fraud, of voting en masse by clans, of conventions pertaining to human rights, war people rising from the dead to cast their ballots, of captives, and the targeting of civilians. Every terror ballot boxes that mysteriously disappear. And from event makes it increasingly clear that the danger to this standpoint, party secretary general MK Eitan the stability of societies and regimes is much greater Cabel's decision to switch to computerized voting than we thought. The Mumbai events must serve as was a good one. He at least tried to change the a turning point in the way we address terror armies. situation, and had the move succeeded, he would This is no longer a conventional war. The war codes justly have claimed the credit. Now, however, he is formulated in the wake of World War II are no longer obliged to take responsibility for the failure.” relevant. Instead, an international anti-terror force Yossi Verter, HAA 03.12.08 must be created; this force must be specialized, it must study the new threat, and it must be able to 3. Anschläge in Indien provide an immediate response by forces trained especially to that end.” Die Terroranschläge im indischen Mumbai, die Ende David Altman, JED 29.11.08 November 172 Menschen das Leben kosteten, waren auch in den israelischen Medien eines der The Al-Quaida scapegoat Hauptthemen der vergangenen Wochen. Terroristen “After more than 170 people were killed in ten hatten unter anderem ein Gemeindezentrum der coordinated attacks in a city as large as Mumbai, the jüdisch-ultraorthodoxen Organisation Chabad ange- question immediately arises of who is behind these griffen und mehrere Israelis als Geiseln genommen. actions and what can be done. The natural Es wurden bei den Anschlägen fünf Israelis und eine inclination is to attribute such attacks to Al-Qaida, an jüdische Mexikanerin, die kurz vor der easy and familiar target. […] Auswanderung nach Israel stand, getötet. In den The general conclusion is that this is a matter of Medien wurde darüber spekuliert, ob das Chabad- Islamic terrorism, part of the worldwide jihad. […] Zentrum ein zufälliges oder sorgfältig ausgewähltes With all due respect to Al-Qaida, the terror attack in Ziel gewesen sei. Außerdem wurden die India has its own causes. Pakistan and India have Implikationen der Anschläge für den weltweiten been in conflict since 1947. […] At issue, therefore, Kampf gegen den Terrorismus diskutiert. is a war between India and Pakistan, and not between Islam and Hinduism, or Islam and the Terror lesson in Mumbai West. „The terror offensive in Mumbai must prompt Terrorism in Pakistan and India has a recognized decision-makers and assessment agencies to solution, just like terror in our neighborhood. But for realize that the common perception regarding terror that, Indians and Pakistanis, much like the warring activity is flawed and anachronistic. parties here, must adopt the expression ‘painful The world views terror incidents as sporadic, high- compromises.’ They are still not ready, here or profile, and one-time events. They arouse fury, there, to [do] so.” anger, and pain, yet they do not undermine the Zvi Bar’el, HAA 05.12.08 power of the state where terrorism takes place. […] However, terrorism upgraded itself into combat units. […]

4 The scourge of terrorism Muslims at large. Ending Israel's occupation would “One thing is plain: Those killed at the Chabad remove one such provocation.” House were murdered because they were Jewish or Larry Derfner, JPO 03.12.08 Israeli. […] All that really mattered was that they were living representatives of Jewish civilization. […] Israeli officials are right to argue that the civilized world is under attack. This time the assault came in India, next time it will come somewhere else. The enemy is Islamic extremism. Its immediate goal is to vanquish - by any means necessary - Western symbols and values from those parts of the world it claims as Muslim. […]

Anti-civilian warfare is a key tool of Muslim extremists. Terrorism is a cruelty that has become the scourge of modern civilization and changed the way we live. […] The international community, together with responsible elements in the media, should show zero tolerance for the kind of depravity manifested in Mumbai. And a vital step to confronting it effectively is to recognize terrorism and call it by its name.”

JPO 29.11.08

Mumbai is the exception “I was trying to think of the last major international terrorist attack before Mumbai - it was 7/7, the London subway-and-bus bombings, wasn't it? [...] So maybe Mumbai isn't really a ‘wake-up call’ about the rising threat of Islamic terrorism, but rather the exception that proves the rule, the rule being that HAA = Haaretz HZO= Ha Tzofe the jihad is failing miserably in its attacks against the IHY = Israeli HaYom world. [….] That's three years and five months JED = Jedioth Ahronoth between London and Mumbai. Not a bad record for JPO = Jerusalem Post our side. For all the horror and fury and grief of this MAA = Maariv past week, there should also be a recognition, here and in the rest of the democracies, that the likes of Der Artikel aus MAA wurde dem Medienspiegel der Lakshar e-Taiba and al-Qaida are not, in truth, at the Deutschen Botschaft Israel entnommen. world's throat. The truth is that they're losing badly. Since 9/11, the war on terror has been going Veröffentlicht am: 07. Dezember 2008 amazingly well. […] The rarity of an attack like the one in Mumbai is a Verantwortlich: reason for confidence. It's a reason for believing that Dr. Ralf Hexel, if we, the enemies of jihad, go on doing more or less Leiter der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel what we've been doing for the last seven years, Islamism will eventually collapse of its own weight. Redaktion: […] Maike Harel For its part, the democratic world can hasten the end of jihad by fighting a better war on terror - by Anita Haviv balancing military force and diplomacy more wisely, Homepage: www.fes.org.il and by avoiding unnecessary provocations to Email: [email protected]

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